Electric meters have long been a staple of the home. These meters are typically located on or near the side of the house where the electric line connecting the home to the electrical grid enters the home. The electric meter is interposed at the entry into the home to determine the amount of power consumed by the home so that the owner may be billed based upon the actual usage. The same is generally true of other types of buildings (e.g., commercial).
Electronic displays are increasingly being used in both indoor and outdoor applications. Such electronic displays are sometimes placed in assemblies with a ruggedized housing in order to fit the intended application of the electronic display. Such applications include, but are not limited to, placement on city sidewalks, the sides of buildings, bus shelters, the tops of vehicles, billboards, entrances, stadiums, malls, airports, public transportation areas, and the like. Consumers have increasingly begun demanding larger, brighter, clearer displays, and the like. Consumers have also increasingly begun demanding more features associated with the electronic displays. Examples of such associated features include, but are not limited to, video conferencing, telephonic systems, internet connectivity, cameras, sensors, wayfinding, and the like. The result of these larger displays and added features is greater power consumption by the assembly.
In many cases, one party owns the assembly itself or the physical real estate (e.g., bus stop, sidewalk, building, entrance, signage, or the like) where the assembly is located. In many cases, this owning party is responsible for payment of the assembly's power consumption. However, in some cases it would be desirable to charge another party for the power consumption of the assembly—such as the party showing images on the display. For example, without limitation, in some cases, a city is responsible for the power consumption of such assemblies located on its sidewalks. However, it would be desirable to charge the owner of the assemblies for their power consumption. As another example, without limitation, in some cases, one party owns the display but rents out advertising time on the display to third parties. In such cases, it may be desirable to charge the particular advertiser for power consumed by the assembly while the third party's advertisement is being shown on the assembly.
In such cases, the party responsible for the assembly's power consumption might be forced to interject a power meter on or near the assembly to measure its power consumption. However, this is costly, labor intensive, unaesthetic, and takes up valuable real estate. Therefore, what is needed is an assembly for an electronic display having a simulated electric meter.
The present invention is an assembly for an electronic display having a simulated electric meter. The assembly may comprise a housing for one or more electronic display subassemblies. Each electronic display subassembly may comprise an illumination device, a display layer, and a cover. In exemplary embodiments, a closed loop of air may pass between the display layer and the cover of each subassembly and into a compartment located between the subassemblies. An open loop of ambient air may pass through each subassembly and may pass along the rear surface of the illumination device located therein. A number of electronic components for operating the assembly may be located in the compartment. The simulated electric meter may be in electrical connection with a utility electric supply and all of the electricity consuming components of the assembly such that all electricity consumed by the assembly may pass through the simulated electric meter.
The simulated electric meter may comprise a processor, an electronic storage device, a timing device, a current sensor, and a voltage sensor. The electronic storage device may comprise software instructions, which when executed, cause the processor to take measurements from the sensors. In exemplary embodiments, the sensors may determine the current and the voltage of the incoming electricity, which may be multiplied together to determine the power being consumed. In other exemplary embodiments, the voltage may already be known and multiplied with the current reading to determine power consumption. Such readings and power consumption calculations may be repeated over a period of time at a given frequency. The elapsed time may be measured by the timing device. After a predetermined amount of time has passed, the power measurements may be summed and divided by the total number of readings to determine an average consumption measure for the given period of time.
The simulated electric meter may be in electronic communication with a remote electronic device to monitor power consumption as well as review past power consumption and predict future power consumption. Additionally, the simulated electric meter may be in communication with the video player or a proof of play device in order to track what images are shown on the electronic display subassemblies of the assembly when the power is consumed.